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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931015">Setting Sainthood Ablaze</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurnipKeep/pseuds/TurnipKeep'>TurnipKeep</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Arranged Marriage, Blow Jobs, Bottom Ardyn, Character Death, Creampie, Deal With It, Enemies to Lovers, Episode Ardyn Prologue, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, M/M, Romance, Soft Ardyn - Freeform, Top Ignis, Tragedy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 13:56:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931015</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurnipKeep/pseuds/TurnipKeep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ardyn first met Somnus's general, he imagined his distaste for him was mutual. How could he think otherwise of the young man behind every move his tool of a brother made on the field? </p><p>As it turned out, he detested Ardyn less than the healer gave him credit for, and his gentle nature hiding underneath a stern facade made it easy for Ardyn to fall for him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aera Mirus Fleuret &amp; Ardyn Izunia, Ardyn Izunia/Ignis Scientia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Setting Sainthood Ablaze</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>*replaces Aera with Ignis in Episode Ardyn Prologue and presents it as an original idea* </p><p>This was originally a multichapter fic, but I couldn't come up with enough content for one, so it ended up being a fast paced, stupid long one shot instead. Do forgive me, dears.</p><p>The style is drastically different from To Die On A Hill Of White Orchids and I hope it paid off to try something new. </p><p>A big thank you to STARfruit_Ninja for editing this amidst their busy schedule! You're awesome!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ardyn already had an audience when he arrived at the village. An entourage of villagers followed him a healthy distance away all the way from the borders of their little settlement, careful not to get in the way of his chocobo. The trek had been arduous for them both; a whole four days’ worth of journeying with little time to rest in between, through landscapes of barren wastelands under the scorching sun. He had passed by other villages, sometimes riding straight through them in hopes of finding a shelter to sleep under and perhaps some greens for his mount. More often than not, though, the charred walls of crumbling huts passed by him in the far horizon as Ardyn wished to avoid them as much as they wanted to avoid him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once unseated, he ignored the ache in his backside from days of riding and implored one of the villagers to lead his bird to a source of water. He could’ve used a drink and a moment’s respite himself, but the matters he attended to were never trivial. Instead, his entourage reconvened with a crowd outside a particular hut, where he suspected his mission was waiting for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On a rickety bed, the frame squeaking like it was going to give away any second, lay a child, not older than six years. Her skin darkened in places and scleras turned into hopeless voids, the girl was not the image of a child one wanted etched in their memory. She growled like a feral beast, snarling and lunging at anyone who ventured too close, and pulled on her restraints. The villagers outside kept their distance, afraid of the bed’s woodwork to splinter and give way, or the leather straps around her limbs snapping. The vision turned Ardyn’s stomach, no matter how many times he witnessed it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unafraid, he stepped closer, extending his hand to pull on the sickness, draw it out and into himself. He felt it, the reaching malady, its dark tentacles wrapping themselves around his fingers, cold and noxious. All he had to do was yank.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lord Ardyn! Lord Ardyn!” Through the commotion outside the hut scrambled forth a man out of breath and eyes blown wide. Ardyn knitted his brows together. He needed all his concentration to battle the affliction crippling this child.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Somnus’s men! Their banner over the horizon, they’re — ah! They’re here!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn gritted his teeth and just as the sun’s light shining through the open door was blocked by a figure, he hid his shaking arm in his robes. The girl was not free of the curse yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Healer?” a voice called. Unfamiliar. Although Ardyn could not claim he recognised all the voices of Somnus’s soldiers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know why you are here,” Ardyn responded quietly. The chill of the Scourge spread through his veins, dispersing whispers and promises of a massacre if for a moment he let his guard fall. He leaned closer to the bed, close enough for the creature tied to it to smell his blood, screech and bite into his flesh. Its sharpened fangs cut into his arm effortlessly. Ardyn stifled a hiss while he poured all his willpower to purging the sickness eating at the child in the most unorthodox way he could’ve imagined. Within a few heartbeats, loud like the bells of the Citadel in his ears, the girl calmed down, ceased jerking her constraints and fell into dreamless slumber. Ardyn thanked the Astrals for the bed to be positioned in a manner that allowed his back to be turned towards the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suggest you move on,” he continued, straightening his back. The whispers echoed on, crawling to the back of his mind where they would fester. “There is no Scourge in this village.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man at the door said nothing when Ardyn turned to him. Against the blazing sun he couldn’t make out the man’s features, but he was a few inches shorter than Ardyn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The intense stare they shared ended abruptly as the man sighed, shook his head and stepped away from the entrance. The villagers dared not to move an inch. Ardyn often witnessed an outburst of joy once he had overruled the death sentence laid upon the weak, but with Somnus’s troops marching around the village, none dared to celebrate. Ardyn wagered his presence had already alerted the invading men to the smell of Scourge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he ventured outside he heard the man at the door giving a speech to the whole settlement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lord Somnus has received word of a potential Scourge outbreak in your village,” he announced. Ardyn blinked his eyes that had gotten used to the darkness in the hut. It would take him a few seconds to adjust his blurry vision to the noon sun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no Scourge here!” one of the villagers yelled, mirroring Ardyn’s words, his poor display discredited by the desperation in his voice. “Leave us be!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If it is as you say, you have nothing to fear,” the soldier assured, but Ardyn, just like the residents, had a hard time believing in Somnus’s efforts of goodwill, when his actions in the past reflected on his cruelty. The villages razed to the ground, burned and buried by the sand that Ardyn had passed while traveling, were a testament to Somnus’s inhumanity and his search to eradicate the affliction that plagued their lands. “No harm will come to you as long as you comply with my requests. I want each and every one of you to return to your homes. We will carry out physical checks to identify any offset of the plague.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Physical checks?” someone whimpered from the crowd.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The first signs of the plague can often be found near the neck, the armpits and the groin. We will examine these areas carefully to determine whether an individual carries the affliction.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The general consensus of the assembly was worried, Ardyn spotting a good few horrified expressions among the womenfolk of the village at the thought of a band of Somnus’s men lifting their skirts and examining their privates. When the residents dispersed back into their own lodgings, glancing behind themselves in blatant fear, Ardyn approached the commanding officer, the man that had barged in on him and led the announcement. He dropped his hand on the man’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re frightening them,” he told him, with a palpable amount of contempt in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m only doing my job,” the man answered, facing him. To Ardyn’s surprise, he was younger than him. He had gotten used to seeing old men sucking up to his brother, desperate to get on his good side before he was ultimately declared the king. The commanding officer was in his thirties, but with a face so stern it made him appear older and esteemed. Ardyn pondered if it wasn’t the reason why he had such an easy time making Somnus’s men jump through hoops. Or perhaps it was the blaze in his meadow-green eyes, searing not unlike the sun above them. “What would you have me do instead? If I return with no news, Somnus will run with the suspicion he has, and this village burns like the others near it. Is that what you want to see? Another bonfire on the horizon?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t you tell my brother you found nothing?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A poor lie like that Lord Somnus would see through effortlessly,” the officer responded coldly. “If you are so concerned for their feelings, healer, I suggest you help me out. They trust you more than I.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“No surprise there,” Ardyn scoffed but ultimately agreed to help. They divided the work in the most natural way: the officer and his men would conduct examinations on the menfolk, and upon Ardyn was thrusted the responsibility to check the women and the children: those most affected by the fear looming thick over their heads. In Ardyn’s hands they calmed like wild beasts shown uncanny kindness, still holding onto their lingering suspicion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took them until sundown to finish the ordeal. The last family in the settlement was under examination, the officer and one other soldier conducting a search on the father and their 15-year-old son, while Ardyn gently inspected the mother, their eldest daughter and the infant, mere a few months old. It was then that Ardyn opened his mouth again, the silence between them having been filled with single word orders and the sobbing of children.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you trust me to tell you if I find anything?” he questioned. What reason did he have to work in Somnus’s favour? He’d rather jump at the opportunity to make the insufferable brat’s life more difficult.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In fact, I do,” the commanding officer admitted. “Not for my benefit, and not for yours. I expect you to want to save these villagers, so whether you admit it or not, this investigation serves you as much as it serves me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hated to admit the officer was correct. Had he spotted a sign of the Scourge he would’ve jumped to it, healing the individual on the spot even with the risk of overworking himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When fear became the new norm, the villagers found ways to adapt to it. Worn down by the oppressive dread, their subjects almost settled into normality, throwing haphazard jokes about it. Ardyn was glad to see trembling smiles on their faces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He only had the eldest daughter left of the family, and she was altogether lovely, with blond hair and tan skin, no older than twenty-five. As he kneeled before her, her face flushed red from embarrassment and her teeth bit into her bottom lip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This must be very uncomfortable for you, young miss,” Ardyn cooed with a smile, but the girl shook her head. A timid curl of her lips cracked through the coy expression. At first he didn’t understand while the commanding officer suddenly tried to drill a hole in his skull with his stare, but the blush on the girl’s face that spread down her neck and shoulders gave the reason away. He conducted his search as fast as possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the search had been concluded, the officer stepped outside with Ardyn in tow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A bit uncomfortable doing that to someone who wishes it was done in a different setting,” he joked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She could not tear her eyes away from you the whole time,” the officer hummed, his voice almost betraying the smile he couldn’t let reach his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We will return to the Citadel with the news.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The news being..?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That we found nothing,” the man acknowledged, summoning his soldiers and their mounts: a handful of bright yellow chocobos.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lord Ardyn!” One of the villagers, an older man, ran up to him. “Stay with us for the night. The sun is setting and the night is perilous.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not much convincing was required for Ardyn to agree. He was beyond tired, exhausted from the day’s work, and wished for nothing more than a bowl of grub, no matter how measly, and a bed-like contraption to lie on. A sharp pang of guilt tore through his heart like a needle when Ardyn realised the same courtesy wasn’t offered to the soldiers, who worked to saddle their mounts once more and prepared to head into the night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The young officer noticed his concern and dismissed it with: “No reason to worry over us. Our mounts are agile and used to the darkness.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have clearly never faced off with a Gargoyle.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The officer scoffed, mounting his bird that ruffled its feathers and trilled. He guided the animal in front of Ardyn, locking eyes with him from above.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have greatly enjoyed our work together, healer, but stay out of my way next time,” he advised softly, making his statement sound less like a threat and more like a commendation. He lifted his hand and bent his wrist in a wordless order to move, his whole squad moving in unison and spurring their mounts to a gallop. With gusts of sand rising from their birds’ powerful kicks, the parole disappeared into a brewing dust storm.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had found them an altogether lovely ruin from the ancient civilisation of Solheim and together they had spent the early afternoon exploring the intricate designs of what looked like a temple, or perhaps a mausoleum. Once Aera had etched all the engravings into her sharp mind, she and Ardyn had taken a seat by the crumbling, moss-covered stairs. It wasn’t often Ardyn got to truly enjoy the moments he spent with his fiancee. How they had managed to remain engaged at all was a mystery to many, as Aera was needed at the Citadel and Ardyn was allowed nowhere near the city. When they did meet, however, Ardyn regarded it as a welcome haven amongst days of labour. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The commander sounds like a real hardass,” the woman clad in white chuckled at Ardyn’s tale of the village and his run-in with one of Somnus’s soldiers. “But not many would let you walk off just like that, not while Somnus is looking to imprison you. You should be thankful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be eternally thankful if I never meet the man again,” Ardyn sighed, earning another peal of laughter from Aera.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Speaking of commanders. You should see the tall glass Somnus has promoted as his highest ranking general. The kitchen staff can’t stop swooning over him!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The secret to his and Aera’s enduring engagement, if there ever was one, was the fact that his fiancee was the only person who knew about and understood where his affection lay. It was a well guarded secret, one Ardyn intended to take to his grave. While he loved Aera dearly, there was not a hint of passion between them. For the better part of his life she had been his best friend, and what better friend than one who could read a man like an open book, discern his interest in his own sex and agree to hide it with him? So had formed a pact between himself and the Oracle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think of him, Aera?” Ardyn asked, bemused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, he is handsome. There’s no questioning it. But there’s something about him that unnerves me. For example, I have never seen him talking to anyone. He walks by, all statuesque and aloof, says his mornings polite-like but never stops to catch up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her eyes narrowed as she faced Ardyn, her fox-like grin in turn unnerving him. The glint in her eyes was a warning light for her signature impish behaviour.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You two would look cute together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn buried his face in his hands, rubbing them roughly over his features. Ever since they had agreed to marry, Aera had been insistent on setting her fiancee up with members of the palace. Ardyn had politely declined every time, but it did little to dampen the Oracle’s enthusiasm in the task.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know I would never bed one of Somnus’s lackeys,” Ardyn groaned into his palms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re right, you’re right. I’m just teasing you.” Aera giggled, shoving the man beside her so hard that he wobbled. “Oh! Speaking of the devil.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, Aera straightened up and inched further away from Ardyn, her eyes trained at the cart she had arrived in. Her two servants shot frightened looks in their direction when they weren’t addressed by a tall man in an inconspicuous hood, his steely expression reminiscent of the night Ardyn spent in the village.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>He’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> Somnus’s general?” Ardyn whispered, doubt colouring his words. Surely the world had not aligned itself in such a manner that the “tall glass” as Aera had described him, the man Ardyn </span>
  <em>
    <span>would look cute together with</span>
  </em>
  <span>, was the same commanding officer that had made his guts boil at mere sight of the condescending glare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The officer walked up to them after concluding his chat with Aera’s servants. He truly was a picture of cold perfection, like the marbled statues at the Citadel. Each and every step he took was graceful and filled with purpose unfamiliar to Ardyn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oracle,” he greeted softly, bowing with his hand folded across his midsection, before turning to Ardyn. “Healer.” Unlike the polite way he had addressed Aera, Ardyn’s title was spat onto the ground as an insult. Ardyn gritted his teeth in response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, you two </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> each other?” Aera whimpered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve had the pleasure to work with one another, haven’t we, healer?” His keen eyes bore into Ardyn’s skull right between his eyes. Ardyn met his stare, held his gaze captive with his. He could swear he saw a flinch behind those long lashes, a thought of a blink, a pull at his unfaltering countenance that softened his mouth from the thin line.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damn it, Aera was right. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> handsome.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We have,” he responded bluntly, determined to not come second to Somnus’s new pedigree dog, no matter how enticing he was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How is your arm?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The question stripped Ardyn of his defences, left him feeling vulnerable and naked under the scrutiny of the blazing green eyes. He glanced to his side as if to remind himself that his arm was still attached. The bite had healed well. It had been bandaged for a few days after his encounter with the infected child, but all that was left were a memory of sharp fangs and a bruise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It has healed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How fortunate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ignis?” Aera called and Ardyn finally learnt the name of his opponent. “Why are you here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man directed his full attention to her once more and extended his arm, beckoning her to follow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have been instructed to escort Lady Oracle back to the Citadel,” he revealed, not masking the urgency in his voice. Ardyn surmised Somnus’s command had some with an additional ‘post-haste’ at the end, which meant his general’s efforts were measured with grains of sand. “I suggest we move before the sun sets.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn sprang on his feet, ready to walk Aera back to her cart, but he was promptly stopped with the sharp end of a spear pointed at his face, a mere inch away from his nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You would pull a weapon on an unarmed man?” he mocked, displaying his vulnerability by holding his hands in the air, palms facing Ignis. He dared not to move. The general didn’t seem like the kind of guy that would entertain even a suggestion of rebellion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, don’t think me an imbecile,” the general sighed. “I know the power the Crystal grants you. Your weapon manifests at will. You are not the hapless healer you pretend to be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he knew Ardyn would remain seated by the stairs, he strapped the polearm on his back, making Ardyn question how he managed to swing it to action so quickly. As Ignis took to escorting the Oracle back to her carriage, Ardyn lowered his hands on his lap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what about me?” he asked, sweeping his gaze over the soft, golden glow on Ignis’s pristine skin. A gilded statue, without a doubt. Not a flaw on him, if one considered emotions flaws.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My orders mentioned only Lady Oracle. Not a word about you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn found it difficult to believe. Somnus’s men had been hunting him down for months, increasing the efforts any time one of them caught even a whiff of him in the area. Now one of them had cornered him near the border to the Citadel and suddenly had no orders on his capture, like there wasn’t a constant order on his capture. But he would take his victories where he could find them, especially when his fiancee stared back at him, silently imploring him to stay put. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aera was right. Aera was always right. Be thankful. The patronising treatment he received made it hard, compelled his fingers to curl into fists as his lady in white was daintily assisted into the carriage and given the order to ride straight back to the Citadel. The last glance Ignis shot in his way made it ever harder, his cold, emotionless, marbled eyes of a statue brushing over him like they could sweep him aside and under a rug. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis stood in front of the prince, solemn and steadfast, after returning from his task.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And my brother?” Somnus asked, quietly, moving a piece on a chessboard. He was playing alone, again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No sign of healer Ardyn, I’m afraid,” Ignis responded. “He must have seen me coming. The ruins are surrounded by lush vegetation. He could be anywhere.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somnus released a heavy sigh. Chess games alone were ultimately very dull, as was the game he played with his brother. Somnus threw everything he had at him, every piece under his command. He sacrificed knights and bishops as eagerly as pawns, and yet without a flick of his wrist, pieces moved to protect Ardyn. Sometimes, Somnus swore, it seemed like Ardyn wasn’t even on the board at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t be helped then,” he agreed, weary of running after the ghost of his brother. He wished he would just come to him. “Keep an eye on his betrothed. One of these days, she will lead us to him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At your order.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis turned on his heels and marched out of the open hall, the marble below his feet barely ringing. Somnus noted how silently he walked and wondered how Ardyn could have spotted him. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The oak sheltered by the wheaten fields was one of Ardyn’s last safe havens. A place Somnus had not yet positioned his guards around. Within him fluttered a timid hope that his brother never learnt of the place, that this was a grove in the midst of canyons, sheltered from the tainted touch of madness driven by hunger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as he approached the clearing, all faith took flight and flickered into the sun, as a strange figure stood against the golden glow of the fields. When Aera graced the clearing with her luminous presence, she looked natural in her striking white gown, surrounded by swaying reeds bending towards her like nature itself wished for her blessing, but this wasn’t Aera. The figure kneeled at the foot of the oak, his knees together and palms pressed over his thighs. He looked like someone had stolen a memorial and dragged it out into the wilderness as a prank. It didn’t belong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Healer Ardyn,” the man greeted as Ardyn drew closer. Apparently they had graduated to using first names now. He wasn’t opening his eyes for him, however. So much for the familiarity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ignis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Against his better judgment Ardyn sat next to him, crossing his legs. He wasn’t going to cause more discomfort to himself by arranging his limbs into a meditative pose like Ignis had, his hands meticulously arranged over his thighs and his spine unnaturally straight, his perfectly sculpted backside resting atop his heels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damn it, damn it, damn it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a groan Ardyn fished his mind out of the gutter, reminding himself that the man, no matter how placid in the moment, was Somnus’s general. He led troops with heavy artillery against villagers with sticks and flint as weapons and felt no remorse for it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hear screaming,” Ignis confessed, unusually calm about the statement. Frantically, Ardyn searched the horizon for pillars of smoke and pricked his ears. All for naught. He could not hear a single noise aside from the whispers of the reeds brushing against each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right now?” he questioned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Every time I close my eyes,” the general sighed. “Every night I lie awake until exhaustion claims me. In my bed I am joined with the faces of everyone Somnus has sacrificed to his possessed hunt to eradicate the Starscourge. I see the sickly and the healthy. Men and monsters. At the great pyre, their voices join the choir. Their death screams fill the quiet of the night and in that moment, I wish I was deaf.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mouth left ajar from the admission, even with his eyes glued wide Ardyn didn’t expect Ignis to look at him the way he did, scouring the deep blue irises, looking for companionship.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you hear anything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hear the murmurs of the daemons that ravage my body every single moment, and I wonder if they, too, have the right to exist</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Ardyn thought, but his mouth formed the word: “No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Count yourself lucky, then,” Ignis concludes, pulling one of his knees from under himself to push him off the ground and on his feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hah, lucky. I am truly blessed with the knowledge that each and every man, woman and child that I heal brings me closer to a breaking point. That one day in the future, it'll all be too much, and the daemons in my head wait for that moment. They press against my skin, biding their time, biding for my moment of faltering.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But he didn’t say that to Ignis. He didn’t ask him to stay, either. He watched as the younger man’s back receded and accepted the void left by him. He had carved a nest of kinship to Ardyn’s soul and left it unattended, letting cold winds blow away remnants of the momentary warmth between them. He watched the reeds bow their necks to the setting sun a long time after Ignis had disappeared beyond the horizon. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps it was by fate that Ignis had found his little nook of comfort amidst his busy schedule. And perhaps it was destined that when Ardyn found a moment of rest in his divine ordeal to heal the land of the plague that ravaged it, his feet guided him under the arching oak tree, where the young general twirled his spear with astonishing agility.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Convinced by his timid brain telling him to not bother someone so deeply entranced in their craft and his newfound need to watch how the lean frame worked wielding a weapon taller than its handler, Ardyn stood aside. His eyes followed Ignis’s every movement, trying to catch even the smallest of ripples cascading through his muscles, but the clothes the general wore left much to the imagination, what with all the pooling robes and slack trousers. The Citadel fashion had catching up to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a while he grew bored of imagining how Ignis looked under the layers of cotton, he cleared his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My father once told me one should avoid sparring alone. It only serves to embed one’s errors.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a thud Ignis set his spear on the ground, wiping his brow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How many did you spot?” he asked, face unfaltering, but Ardyn could’ve sworn he heard a playful lilt in his voice, like a little mischievous spirit sneaking in the shadows avoiding direct line of sight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None! Hypothetically speaking, though,” Ardyn deflected, summoning the sword his parents had given him years prior. A beautiful, red tinged blade crafted for someone of Ardyn’s stature: heavier than a one-handed sword but lighter than a two-handed. “Would you care for an opponent?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, the general laughed. It took Ardyn by surprise and set the raging sea in his stomach on fire. Flames engulfed every fibre of his being. The healer knew not the layout of the lion’s den he was about to breach, but he was prepared to get lost. Such an effect a short peal of laughter from the plush lips of his brother’s general had on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let us see if the healer has the capability to harm, shall we?” Ignis teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Years of running instead of confronting had turned Ardyn into a sitting duck when it came to real combat. He soon realised Ignis was going easy on him, warming him up with careful but precise strikes of his spear. He let Ardyn work up a sweat that stuck his linen shirt against his back before turning it up a notch and forcing him on the defensive. The general knew how to wield his weapon and gave Ardyn nary a chance to get up close and personal, where his blade could have slipped through the nonexistent defence Ignis was holding up. He didn’t need defence, not against Ardyn. All he needed was to push the older man at the end of his spear and keep him at a distance, and he was damned good at it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sweat slicked Ardyn’s hands fast and his hold on the sword faltered. At the end of their short match, Ignis was able to dislodge the blade from his hands, sending it flying. As if disarming him had not been humiliating enough, the general shoved him with his shoulder and Ardyn lost his footing, crumbling on the ground like a tower made out of wooden blocks. The general stood above him, spear still in hand. For a brief moment, when the tip of the polearm touched his chest and Ignis sank on his knees, Ardyn feared for his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The general looked into his eyes, his smile gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could kill you on this spot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could,” responded Ardyn, unable to hold back a grin brought upon him by thrill. Ignis’s strong thighs caged his hips and Ardyn realised how close they were, nothing but a spear between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It would be the kind thing to do. You are no warrior, and stand no chance against Somnus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn smiled ever wider. “I could have told you that much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are too soft.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Through a lighthearted chuckle, he managed to admit: “Oh, how right you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Above him, Ignis frowned. Somewhere out of the peripherals of his eyes, Ardyn heard his sword shattering back into nonexistence. The general’s hold of his spear softened and it no longer pressed against the flesh between Ardyn’s ribs. Slowly, it was withdrawn completely and set beside them on the ground, but the general would not budge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your plans of healing the whole ailing world are idealistic at best,” Ignis voiced quietly. “Nothing will come of it. You are but one man, and the plague spreads to new victims while we clash our weapons together. You don’t have what it takes to become the king, for you fear taking by force what is rightfully yours. You will be trampled below the feet of the ruthless, below the feet of Somnus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The setting sun lit Ignis’s skin aglow, giving it a resplendent sheen. The last remnants of the twinkling light fractured at his irises, creating a stunning imagery of a lush meadow instead of the wheaten field around them, blades of grass basking in the dying warmth. Short huffs of breath had made his full lips moist. His mouth was relaxed and inviting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gods, you are beautiful,” Ardyn breathed, silencing Ignis’s raving. Without thinking what he was doing, following a siren’s call to his doom, he sat up with the general in his lap, circled a hand at the back of the younger man’s neck and craned his neck to capture his lips in a kiss.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis didn’t struggle against his hold, but seemed stunned at the sudden display of affection. His lips didn’t move the same way Ardyn’s did. The healer frowned, the first regret knocking on the door to his mind, behind it a line of others waiting for their turn. He had to withdraw, create enough space between himself and the general to apologise. As soon as his lips fell from Ignis’s and tried to form around words, the general fisted the front of his shirt. Ardyn expected a right hook and prepared to be knocked out cold, but instead, Ignis crashed their lips back together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rather inexperienced with kissing, Ardyn didn’t know what to expect. The burning high that spread through his mouth and settled in the pit of his stomach was unreal, like his body had lifted off the ground and levitated into the clouds. It was the feeling of plummeting just before falling asleep but without the fear of hitting the ground. He sighed against the soft mouth on his and gave Ignis the permission to guide him through it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blade of Ignis’s mouth wedged his open, indomitable, confident caresses leaving sparks in their wake. Ardyn fought off the urge to moan at every brush against his lips, but he was less successful once the general’s free hand carded its fingers through his hair and his silken tongue enticed Ardyn’s own into a slow dance. At the end of it he was breathless, his heart ached and butterflies made a nest of constant flux within the pit of his stomach. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He whispered the younger man’s name against the plush lips, tugging at the bottom one gently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis hummed, gracing him with another fierce but short-lived kiss, like a burst of flame. “Whatever you want to say, don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn laughed, and too elated to care for warnings, explained: “I wish only to evoke your name.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An almost affectionate smile spread on Ignis’s gorgeous features, making him all the more attractive to Ardyn. He nuzzled the side of the younger man’s face, leaving behind him a trail of butterfly kisses and kitten licks. He worried that the roughness of his stubble was off putting against the creamy, velvety skin, but was swiftly proven wrong as Ignis dived to bless him with kisses and hungry bites alongside his jawline. Never before had he been so grateful that his life as the traveling healer made shaving an inconvenience at best.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too soon the general leaned back on his haunches and rose on his legs, leaving Ardyn to sit on the ground without the ever encompassing heat of his body keeping him warm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope you’re not bored with me yet,” he tried on a mask of joviality to hide the concern in his voice. Yet it came out desperate, begging, as he scrambled up himself. This time he wanted to chase Ignis, ask him to stay with him, even though the sun was closing in on the horizon, withdrawing with it the last remnants of daylight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man he was hesitant to call his one and only infatuation looked at him, his face melting into that unreadable, stoic expression Ardyn has grown to know, but one he would’ve gladly seen discarded in favour of a more expressive facade. A flicker of curiosity flashed in his eyes as he tilted his head, inquiring: “You want more?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet again, Ardyn laughed, this time out of embarrassment. He shifted his weight from one foot to another and back, realising there was not a stance in the world that would have made him sound less needy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not more. I want </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was something spellbinding about his words, for Ignis closed the distance between them and brought his lips upon Ardyn’s, sealing them in a demanding kiss. The healer’s eyes fluttered shut and he let out an undignified moan as if he had already forgotten how wanton that beautiful mouth could make him. When Ignis used his body to push Ardyn backwards he thought nothing of it until his shoulder blades scraped against the rough bark of the oak tree. His mouth curled into a smile as he thought: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Trust the general to find the only tree in a five-mile radius to shove me into.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Alongside the sloppy kisses, the two men let their hands wander and explore. One of Ardyn’s hands found its way on Ignis’s narrow hips, holding him flush against him, feeling how their tongues sliding over one another made Ardyn aroused and feeling so damn proud of himself for doing that. The other one found purchase in Ignis’s hair, combing through the short, dirty blond strands ardently. Coincidentally, Ignis had a strange, but not unwelcome, fixation with his hair as well, as the younger man pulled off the leather strap that bound it together in a ponytail. When it flowed on Ardyn’s shoulders like a waterfall tinged red, Ignis twisted the long strands between his fingers and pulled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The resulting gasp that broke their kiss was more out of surprise than pain. A low, satisfied chuckle accompanied Ignis’s restless kisses as he traveled down, caressing everything in its path. Ardyn was forced to let go of his hip as Ignis knelt before him, lifting his tattered shirt enough to mouth his abdomen. Every wet kiss, every ravenous lick Ignis graced his skin with sent a wolfpack of shudders running up the hills and valleys of his spine and forced his breath out in heavy panting. He knew that the plains of his stomach were not the final destination. He wondered if he could breathe at all if Ignis continued on his destructive journey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ashamed to admit it but cornered by the inevitable discovery of it, Ardyn was half erect from just kissing Ignis. The general was nothing short of alluring, even with his features unbothered by emotions. Or perhaps because of it. An invading thought pushed itself at the fore of his mind and implanted a wish to see the alabaster skin cracking with the heat of arousal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The wish was, in truth, not far from fulfilled, as Ignis mouthed over the front of his linen trousers unabashed. Ardyn responded in a groan he tried to stifle and failed marvelously. He was certainly glad Ignis had no mind for excessive teasing, for Ardyn worried even the promise of that shapely mouth around his cock would cause him to erupt prematurely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis undid the strings of Ardyn’s trousers, sliding them halfway on his thighs before running his warm, gentle touch over the exposed skin. Ardyn could have sworn he was adoring him with the lazy circles he drew over his hips with the rough pads of his fingers. One deft hand followed the curve of his hip bones, brushed over the dusting of dark hair and wrapped itself around the base of Ardyn’s prick. A sharp inhale preceded a healthy glob of pearly fluid forming at the head, followed by a twitch that pushed it to run along his shaft. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He would have settled for a handjob. There might’ve been a chance of him regaining some control over himself, perchance, if that had been the case. Fear of making a fool of himself settled deep into his gut when he glanced down, never having witnessed such fascination colouring Ignis’s expression. The general met his stare briefly, searing hunger reflected in his ever bright, ever bewitching eyes. His light pink tongue rolled over his bottom lip, settling on Ardyn’s length and catching the droplets of precome running along it. Ardyn bit the inside of his cheek to not whimper again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The same clever tongue licked a wet stripe across the healer’s shaft, guiding Ignis’s mouth at the crest of it, where his silken lips wrapped around the very tip to grace him a soft kiss. Ardyn’s breath had grown shallow, every little puff of air coloured with a different note of arousal like a swift melody. He was doomed. Utterly doomed, with no hope to escape, when Ignis parted his lips and allowed Ardyn’s cock to slowly slide into the wet heat. Ardyn tossed his head back, hitting it against the steadfast oak and hoped the throbbing pain at the back of his skull would distract him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t, and neither did trying to count the leaves above him when the plush mouth around his now fully hard member withdrew back to the head, that crafty, cunning, talented tongue sweeping over the head licking off more precome on the way. Looking down was surely going to unravel him, but he couldn’t stop himself. Ignis was indescribably erotic, his large eyes fluttering shut every time he took Ardyn further in, easing him towards the back of his throat bit by bit. A bright blush lingered on his cheeks and made him appear drunk from the experience. Ardyn couldn’t comprehend how the sight had not been at the top of the list of things he wanted to see before he died.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With his mouth Ignis worked his foreskin over the bulb of his cock over and over. The moment he managed to finally fit Ardyn’s whole length down his throat, the healer had to clench his muscles to not spend down the back of Ignis’s tongue right there and then. His chest heaved at the ordeal, the tremble of his hand increasing every passing second as he stroked the soft strands of Ignis’s sandy coloured hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was hit with the cold evening air in a way that chilled him to the very core when his lover pulled back and let his manhood bop out his mouth, twitching at full attention in front of the younger man’s crimson, swollen lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can make this feel better for you,” Ignis purred while distributing featherlight kisses along his length.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not so certain I can take better,” laughed Ardyn hoarsely, his mouth dry from loud sighs and groans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is an incentive, not a threat,” the younger man hummed in response, his fingers tugging Ardyn’s trousers down the remaining length. “Let us get rid of these.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As per command, Ardyn kicked his slacks off and felt naked despite the shirt still draped around his upper body. Ignis’s fingers caressed over his knees and up his thighs, where one stopped and the other one circled around. Fingers suddenly taking his behind in a docile grasp startled him, making him reflectively shy away from the touch. His wide stare searched for Ignis’s eyes, finding them heavy-lidded and seductive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>To placate him, the general allowed the bulb of his length to slide back into his sinful mouth, the brush of his tongue over the frenum pulling out unseemly moans out of him. The inside of his sweltering mouth felt slicker than before, like he was drooling over Ardyn’s cock on purpose, but the older man had no complaints. The hand on his rear smoothed over his flesh, massaging the length of his thigh and relaxing Ardyn once more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a little odd when the general guided his leg upon his shoulder, but the healer could hardly be bothered about a inconsequential detail like that. He only hoped he wouldn’t press his heel too rough against Ignis’s back once the younger man decided to resume his previous task in full vigor. Certainly the teasing would eventually do the trick, Ardyn surmised with a wide grin spreading on his face, but he knew Ignis to be the kind of person to not settle for a quiet closure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a while of gentle caresses, the general pulled away from Ardyn’s cock, enough to fit two of his fingers into his mouth. Pulling them out, Ardyn’s eyes caught a glint of viscous fluid covering his digits: a layer of pearly precome and a hefty amount of saliva. No wonder he had been dribbling all over Ardyn’s prick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you trust me?” Ignis asked, guiding his lubricated hand between Ardyn’s buttocks and massaging the tight ring of muscles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The touch was foreign to Ardyn. It had crossed his mind but to the date he had never attempted to touch himself down there. It was difficult to not let his nerves get to him but Ignis’s gentle visage served to soothe him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would put my life in your hands,” Ardyn admitted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis blessed him with a tender smile while his fingers worked to relax his entrance. He was careful with the way he pushed the first digit inside only up to the first knuckle, adhering to Ardyn’s lack of resolve. The healer bit his lip, willing away a need to yelp as the new, alien sensation of being breached left him sundered and feeling vulnerable. Yet there was no man he would have rather felt vulnerable with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis reacted to his tension, dropping his jaw to accommodate Ardyn’s length back into his mouth. He wouldn’t ease it in like before, rather sliding it all the way down until his nose brushed against the hair on Ardyn’s abdomen. The wicked mouth broke the healer’s focus on the unfamiliar, bringing him back to the brink of ecstasy. In the midst of getting his dick sucked by the most accomplished of Somnus’s generals, Ardyn barely regarded how the digit moved deeper into him, until it pressed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A shout left Ardyn’s lungs then, a manifestation of a spark lighting up inside him where Ignis brushed his finger. With the dripping heat of the younger man’s mouth, the combination coaxed his hips into a frantic jerk. With one hand still in Ignis’s hair, holding onto the strands for his dear life, he buried himself to the hilt and held himself still, terrified that the slightest of grazes along his cock would set him off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unimpressed with the sudden intrusion, Ignis tapped on his hip with his free hand, reminding Ardyn of his need for oxygen. Slowly, realisation hit him and Ardyn pulled back, watching in hazy horror as Ignis coughed and sputtered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah! Forgive me. Please. Are you — are you hurt?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis drew a ragged breath before him and coughed twice more before facing him, brows drawn together in chagrin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A little warning beforehand, I implore you,” he requested with an edge in his voice, but upon watching guilt climbing over Ardyn, his face softened. “I suppose I can’t blame you, with this being your first time. There, there. No permanent damage sustained.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shame compelling him to halt their experimentation on its tracks, Ardyn tried to push Ignis back, but the general persisted, stroking his cock with his free hand to keep it from softening in his grip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you truly must feel condemned,” Ignis suggested, tracing the most prominent vein on the underside of Ardyn’s shaft with the tip of his tongue, “then allow me to do as I wish with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Ardyn breathed, unable to ignore how insidiously Ignis worked him back into full arousal. “You may do with me as you desire.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Familiar warmth enveloped his member once more, with a satisfied hum vibrating against it. It wasn’t difficult for Ardyn to sink into the pleasure, lose himself and drown, his fingers tracing shapes along Ignis’s scalp. A twinge in his backside dragged his consciousness back from the pool of liquid euphoria for a brief moment, as Ignis added another finger alongside the first, stretching him open. Despite the offset strangeness, being filled only added to his arousal. He could not tear his eyes away from the general, as much as his head wanted to loll back and his eyes squeeze shut. Watching his cock being repeatedly buried between those beautiful, shapely lips created an image in his mind he would not let go willingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Ignis’s digits brushed over his prostate again, Ardyn’s knees buckled and he struggled to stay upright, leaning his back against the trunk of the oak a little harder to not slide right down. His fingers worked in and out of Ardyn with more determination, with roughness that left the older man shivering and breathless. Every prod at the bundle of nerves blinded his mind’s eye and pushed a rope of liquid onto the general’s slick tongue, and he swallowed it with a moan of indulgence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn was careful to not lose himself in the moment again, allowing Ignis to work at his own pace, but even with his sorry attempts at curbing his own enthusiasm, involuntarily his hips stuttered and pushed against the inviting heat only to have Ignis’s fingers withdraw from his prostate. When he pulled back, the fulfilling stroke over the bundle of nerves returned in unison, creating a perfect tandem of his senses being assaulted, no matter which way he moved. Ignis paid meticulous attention to efficacy, it seemed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t long before Ardyn felt his pleasure reaching for the apex, although the sensation seemed to grow to heights new to Ardyn. With his own efforts, the build-up was barely half of what it was with Ignis, the general’s tongue twisting and curling over the crown of his cock like a snake, lapping at the salty fluid forming at the tip like he couldn’t get enough of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the midst of his own, deafening growls and whimpers, Ardyn managed to stammer: “Ignis, I won’t be able to —”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cursed his articulate mind and his body’s incapability to keep up with it. The rest of his speech was nonsensical chanting of the younger man’s name as his orgasm washed over him, leaving him stunned and stars dancing in his eyes. His heel dug between Ignis’s shoulder blades, bringing his lips flush against the base of Ardyn’s dick. Nevertheless he was able to perceive the unusually high pitched moan the general elicited, suffocated by his manhood emptying a load down the sweet warmth of Ignis’s mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once his dick was no longer leaking frantically upon the general’s tongue and his partner had gotten his fill, Ignis withdrew his hand from Ardyn’s behind, allowing the older man to slide on the ground, thoroughly hollow, feeling much like a skin suit without a human inside. Post-orgasm shudders still traveled down to his length, forcing near painful twitches out of it, albeit they were far in between. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, how about a performance review?” Ignis asked lightheartedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn chuckled wearily. “I am not your commander. I’m afraid I’m thoroughly unequipped to give you one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, heavens, no. I meant yours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mine?” Ardyn queried, finding barely enough strength to pull himself into a position that could, in certain instances, be considered reminiscent of upright. “Pray tell, how did I perform?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis flashed him a hearty grin, and with a voice much like a cat’s purr, said: “Exquisitely.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His lips claimed Ardyn’s in a slow but altogether passionate kiss that sealed the healer’s fate and tied it in with Ignis’s. It plunged a drop of warmth into Ardyn’s soul and gave new life to the toiling hope within him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should I not take care of you in turn?” Ardyn whispered against his mouth, knowing from a glance that Ignis had become as worked up as he had been. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no need,” Ignis chuckled, caressing Ardyn’s hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sat in the clearing, comfortable in each other’s presence, for a while before Ignis opened his mouth again: “There’s something magical about this place.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trying to see what his companion’s eyes saw, Ardyn looked around. Nothing caught his eye, except the multitudes of fireflies bouncing off of gently swaying reeds and into the night sky. The air was particularly calm that night, with only a gentle breeze brushing over the lovers’ skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that why you had your mouth on me?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis chuckled. “I didn’t require magic to do that,” he admitted, a glint of playfulness in the corner of his eye. “The night is quiet. I hear no daemons.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As much as Ardyn wished they could fall asleep in each other’s arms, press lazy kisses on each other’s faces until exhaustion claimed them both, he understood why Ignis stood up with a heavy sigh and wished him good night. Once his back had vanished into the darkness, Ardyn scrambled to fetch his trousers. He would not sleep on the ground half naked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was only then that he realised Ignis had taken with him a trophy: the leather ribbon he used to gather his unruly mane into a ponytail. With a grin that stretched his cheeks and crinkled the corners of his eyes, he came to a conclusion that the general must have been making a statement upon stealing such a trivial thing. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The next few times the two men from opposite sides of the struggle met, they greeted each other not with words, but with frenzied kisses that left their bodies aching and destitute. Their hands caressed, grabbled, scratched and pulled on one another, desperate to feel each other’s presence with every sense. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was one of those times that they tumbled on the clearing shielded by the shameless reeds craning to watch over their playful entwining, the fireflies catching the wind in their wings and blown into intricate shapes above them, like the sky itself was setting up the mood. In the pale light of the moon, Ignis’s skin glowed silver, soft shadows on his face arranging themselves in a manner that made him appear even younger. His green eyes never failed to stupefy Ardyn, and surely, his heart was ready to burst.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you to take me,” he begged, breathless, with Ignis’s hips pinning him down and the weight of the younger one’s body over him making his head spin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t make empty promises,” Ignis purred, nipping at his neck with ardent hunger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They are not empty!” Ardyn declared, and with a flirtatious tone added: “I, however, am.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis chuckled softly at his words, a tiny sound of delight Ardyn felt against his sensitive, kiss-ravaged neck and made him, in turn, smile towards the sky. The kisses left sparks on his skin as they travelled upwards, setting shop upon his lips and enticing them into a heated display of affection and arousal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sometimes, Ardyn, you are too much,” cooed Ignis, the tone of the statement removed from the reprimand the words themselves conveyed. Ardyn had grown to adore how gentle the man turned in his company, estranged from his previous, stoic nature. The scowl and the knitted brows were but a distant memory, replaced with tender smiles that reached his eyes, eyes Ardyn feared not to meet with his, not as a challenge, but to find another soul like his within them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His companion followed up with: “What I wouldn’t do to fulfill your every wish,” before rolling his hips experimentally against Ardyn’s, showcasing how worked up from their fervent touches he’d become. His steeled length brushing against Ardyn’s own, the healer groaned in desperation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amused by his exhibit of wanton desire, Ignis pulled his knees under himself and leaned back on his haunches. His immaculate skin basked in the moonlight and stole Ardyn’s breath away. His blatant perfection still reminded Ardyn of the carved marble statues in the Citadel, but the heat emanating from his body made him a man like Ardyn. The older man rushed to untie his trousers, hands fumbling with the thin strings until he pulled at the right end. The general followed with great interest how he kicked his brittle sandals off and slipped out of slacks like an eel. His cock stood at full attention from their frisky rutting, twitching and leaking on his stomach at the thought of Ignis watching him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he showed no attempt to remove his shirt, the general shook his head and tutted: “Now, that won’t do.” He brought his long fingers on the hem of the linen shirt, hitching it up on Ardyn’s chest. He didn’t pull it over Ardyn’s head, but let it remain pushed up as if to highlight the immoral visage before him. Inquisitive digits found themselves drawn in by Ardyn’s dusky coloured nipples, brushed over them and pulled out unabashed hisses and moans from the healer. The jolts of electricity spreading through him had Ardyn writhing and arching himself to the touch before wriggling out of his shirt and tossing it in the same pile with the rest of his clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To his neverending astonishment, after a short rummaging Ignis produced a small, inconspicuous vial from the pits of his clothing. The liquid within was clear but viscous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn barked an exuberant laughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For how long have you carried that around?” he asked, unable to contain his excitement and rising upon his elbows to inspect Ignis’s proceedings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ever since our first night together.” Ignis popped the cork open, pouring half of the contents over his right hand. “I had to go through some trouble to acquire it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope it wasn’t the kitchen staff you consulted,” Ardyn jested, reminiscent of the little detail Aera had told him when he still hated Ignis’s guts, how the whole crew drooled after Ignis incessantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The press against the tight ring of muscles was less intrusive this time, more welcome and expected. Ardyn had dreamed about it ever since Ignis had introduced the idea to him, buried his own fingers deep within himself, worked himself up roughly and came mouthing the syllables of Ignis’s name silently. One day, he’d love nothing more than to put up a show for the younger man, observe how stirred he could get the stoic general with his performance. Until then, he was delighted to feel the ease at which Ignis’s finger entered him with proper lubricant. So effortlessly, in fact, that Ignis had no qualms about adding another finger straight off the bat. Ardyn knew he was clenching around the digits, eager to feel them over his prostate once more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sensing Ardyn’s yearning, the younger man hummed, pulling out his fingers before ever granting the healer his much needed stimulation. Ardyn prepared to complain, but the words were stolen from the tip of his tongue by the introduction of a third digit. Slowly, it spread him open in a way he hadn’t dared to even dream. It made him feel unbearably full. Oh, so delightfully full. His back arched and his lungs emptied a long, impudent whine into the air. His heels dug into the ground below as he was determined to give Ignis a better angle, but the tranquil young man pressed his palm on his inner thigh, assuaging him. Infuriatingly slowly his lover eased half of his hand into him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His dick leaked profusely, creating a puddle of cloudy nectar upon his stomach, but Ignis was uninterested. Instead, he twisted his fingers </span>
  <em>
    <span>just right</span>
  </em>
  <span> to hit the spot right behind Ardyn’s cock, drawing out another moan from him. How deft were the hands that molded him from the inside, made him ready to take something bigger. A few purposeful thrusts, and Ardyn was begging, praying to be fucked. Of course, none of the gods would adhere to his wishes, but Ignis did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as slowly as he had started, Ignis withdrew his hand, careful not to grant unnecessary discomfort to his paramour. Once out of the searing heat of Ardyn’s ass, his fingers smoothed over his entrance almost lovingly, and most definitely with quiet adoration. Ardyn trembled, yearning for the feeling of being crammed to the brim to return.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His longing was placated by the meager show Ignis put on to remove his clothes, although Ardyn could not blame him. He had hardly provided an act himself, and Ignis, just like him, was more concerned with other tasks. As much as he demonstrated a lack of showmanship, the older man’s eyes scoured the plains of his body, admiring each and every hill and valley. Such a narrow waist, such broad shoulders and strong arms. His skin was sunkissed and so very appetising. His powerful thighs shuddered Ardyn to his very core. Eventually, he promised himself, he would enjoy eating up each and every inch of his lover’s impeccable body. He would run his mouth and his hands over every curve and rightly worship the form of Somnus’s most trusted general.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fantasy was pushed out of his mind with the sight of Ignis’s manhood. That, too, was as immaculate as the rest of the man, thick and pale with a rosy flush matching the colour of his lips. Ardyn grew hungry just looking at it. He didn’t know which he would have preferred more: to take it into his mouth and gorge on it until it overwhelmed his taste buds with a savoury delight, or to follow with the current plan of impaling himself on it. Both sounded equally tempting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His companion made the decision for him, pouring the remaining contents of his secret vial over his pulsing erection until it glistened, dripping from the lube. He positioned himself between Ardyn’s thighs and guided the bulb of his cock at the craving entrance. He locked eyes with Ardyn for final confirmation, for any sign of mental or physical discomfort, for doubt or hesitation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn said only one word: “Please.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis’s breath hitched as he pushed the crown of his length into Ardyn, and Ardyn bit his lip to repress a groan that despite his efforts still managed to escape his lips as Ignis delved deeper. Three fingers had insufficiently prepared him for the whole of Ignis’s length, they did not have the full reach of his well-endowed cock. The trouble he had had reaching for his own prostate with his fingers was a joke at the wake of the velvety bulb dragging over the sweet spot effortlessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hands on his thighs, spreading them open for him, Ignis drove all the way home, pushing the air out of Ardyn’s lungs. The throbbing, twitching cock nestled in him drove Ardyn closer to madness, second by second.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Ignis,” he babbled amidst heavy breathing. “This is going to break me, Ignis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At his words he witnessed the general wince and felt the pulse that surely pushed a glob of precome to coat his insides. He couldn’t feel that part, not really, but his imagination supplemented the missing sensory information and enabled him to salivate at the thought of getting creamed by Ignis. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> was what was inevitably going to break him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That, and the sweet, torturous roll of Ignis’s hips into his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We may stop if you so wish,” the general suggested, but Ardyn knew the man had had his answer before he opened his mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You wouldn’t dare.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A soft chuckle awakened the night around them as Ignis drilled into him, his thrusts slow and calculated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Correct,” he granted, punctuating the word with another thrust. “I couldn’t possibly halt now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His control was slipping, Ardyn noticed. Much like he himself could barely scrape together a coherent thought to express how he wished to be filled to the brim, Ignis struggled to deny himself the pleasure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Astrals, Ardyn,” his paramour breathed, suddenly snapping his hips forward and bestowing upon Ardyn the deliciously brutal assault on his prostate that pulled a rough cry from his lips. “All that lubricant and you are still” — another sharp thrust — “so” — and another — “gods damned” — he was punishing Ardyn, he must’ve — “tight!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even with his ass tanned by the merciless pace, betwixt his sex-crazed, animalistic howls, Ardyn laughed. He delighted in experiencing the fracture in Ignis’s discipline, and the side effects of it, particularly himself being fucked into the ground with frightening ardency and abandon, made the subtle change in character all the more worth it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After his debauching words, Ignis gathered himself for a moment and ensured he had not hurt Ardyn more than the older man could take. The ample lubrication had made it delightfully easy to split Ardyn in half, lack of friction in no way contributing to how chock-full he felt. The full recovery from such an onslaught would have required patience neither one of them had, as Ignis demonstrated by straightening himself up. For a brief moment he wasn’t as deeply seated within the older man as he would’ve wished, an oversight promptly rectified by Ignis encircling one of his strong arms around Ardyn’s thigh and flipping him to his side with little to no effort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis’s next thrust was near abyssal, touching places within Ardyn he didn’t know existed. If Ignis wanted to take him with the same brutality he had showcased before, Ardyn would spill himself untouched. He contemplated dropping his face between the cradle of his arms. He could avoid revealing how Ignis’s cock had enthralled him, made him a mindless slave to the pleasure distributed to him by this benevolent, god-like being. But he would miss staring into Ignis’s eyes, sharp and expressive and intelligent, and watching how the perfect facade cracked and revealed underneath a man with bestial needs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He opted to remain leaning on his elbow, the uneven ground below giving his arm and side the strangest friction burns, when Ignis hoisted his leg up on his shoulder, his thigh pressed flush against Ignis’s chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The steady tempo Ignis set for himself drove him to brush over the sensitive, over-stimulated bundle of nerves with the weight of his cock in reiteration. One arm still wrapped around his thigh, Ignis ensured his intense, terse thrusts permitted Ardyn no moment of rebound, his prick carving the insides of the older man with purposeful precision. Every time his length slid into Ardyn to the hilt, the healer was barraged with blinding, debilitating flares of pleasure that spread from the pit of his stomach to the tips of his fingers, wrecking his body along the journey. With the staccato of Ignis’s hips rolling against his, waves of bliss crashed into him and before the first one ebbed, the next one flowed through. Each one of them coaxed out a cry louder than the previous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if he wasn’t close to blowing his load without extra incentive, his lover’s unoccupied hand, the one not currently yanking him against the rough rhythm, sneaked itself around Ardyn’s trickling manhood. It enveloped it in a silky but firm grip that teased the foreskin slowly over the crown, thumb smoothing over the fissure at just the right pressure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps lack of attention to his cock had made Ardyn particularly sensitive. Without much of a warning aside from a sudden sensation of a cord tightening in his core and a marvelous feeling of a knot unraveling behind his dick, all at the same time, he had enough time only to arch his body upwards, grab Ignis by the back of his neck and pull him into a heated kiss that swallowed his shout of completion. It didn’t take Ignis long to follow behind him with less fireworks, spending inside Ardyn’s frantically clenching ass with nothing but a soft groan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Afterwards Ardyn hoped with the utmost sincerity Aera had never been anywhere near the clearing at the time of his and Ignis’s coupling. Though a fond memory and an infinite resource of arousal to him, their rough breeding attempts might’ve been… harrowing to most, especially to pure souls like the Oracle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tired and boneless, the healer propped himself up against the staunch oak tree and with the last of his strength gathered his general, his equally exhausted and limp Ignis, in his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took them what felt both like ages and a blink of an eye to regain their composure. The stars traveled over their heads, changing places like shifting sands, new constellations rising in the place of the old, until Ignis finally spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ardyn,” he attempted, unsure if the older man was awake at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hummed a complacent response, none too keen on committing to be alert.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you to know,” Ignis tested the waters, “that I would support your claim to the throne.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no such thing,” Ardyn mumbled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There should be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t make for a very good king.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better than you think. Better than Somnus,” Ignis announced, catching Ardyn’s attention while resting against his chest. The general seemed so small, then, so fragile in the tender cage of his embrace. “I want to follow a man like you, a man blessed with both conviction and compassion. I might’ve called your ideas of healing the ailing world lofty, but a king like you, Ardyn, would toil to make the world a better place for everyone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Moved by his word if not convinced by them, Ardyn squeezed the younger man tighter against himself, desperate to cling to the faith he had in him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you would become my general?” he queried playfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would become whatever you wished,” chuckled Ignis, scarcely managing to lift his hand to caress Ardyn’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The older man turned toward the gentle hand and kissed the palm reverently. Against it, he whispered: “Mine.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The word of the Gods’ decision reached Ardyn just as he was enjoying the little bit of hospitality the ailing populace still granted him. His hosts sprung up on their feet, ready to flee when the army approached. In straight rows the men bowed their heads and kneeled before him, their commander announcing the news of his crowning and extending an invitation to the Citadel. Ardyn would follow him. His flighty nature had finally given way to something more important.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His journey to avoid capture had taken him far from the comforting walls of Citadel, so the travel back, even on his trusty, black chocobo, took an entire day. The fires that lit up the city at night crawled up on them over the horizon like a beast with myriad eyes. The narrow, winding alleyways of the city’s infrastructure made it hard for his mount to keep up the breakneck pace, so it slowed down to a leisurely trot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the bridge to the Palace, his home, stood a lone man. No army behind him, no supporting troops. In the middle of the crossing, he stood with his spear in hand at vigil, waiting for Ardyn. The healer left his trusty steed behind as he closed the distance between himself and the man, halting a good few feet away in case their exchange wouldn’t end peacefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ardyn.” Solemnity pressured Ignis’s greeting into a fragile whisper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ignis,” Ardyn answered in kind, his tone softer than the general’s before him. “Where is Somnus?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Inside, waiting for your arrival.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did he send you to try and stop me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Ignis shook his head. “I came of my own volition. Ardyn, you must turn back.” There was urgency in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A sigh rolled off of Ardyn’s lips. “This ends tonight, Ignis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It doesn’t have to!” the general shouted, despair fracturing his usually calm, melodic voice. “Please, Ardyn, listen to me. Run away and don’t return. I’ll come with you. We’ll find a place where Somnus can’t reach us, at the edge of the continent. We’ll disappear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Certain that the weapon wouldn’t be pulled on him, Ardyn stepped forward. With every stride, Ignis’s frame trembled as if being close to Ardyn caused him physical pain. Disregarding the fact, Ardyn cupped his face between his hands and lifted his face, the general’s eyes darting from side to side, avoiding Ardyn’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m tired of running,” he confessed, brushing the rough pad of his thumb over the soft, warm skin of Ignis’s cheek. “I want a world ruled by compassion, not fear. I want to evoke hope, not despair, in those who suffer. I want to fight for a better tomorrow for my people. I want your nightmares to come to an end, Ignis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The general’s arms wrapped around his shoulders and their lips locked together like pieces of a puzzle, complete. Longing transformed their kiss voracious, hungering. The knowledge that it could be the last time they would enjoy each other’s presence fresh in their mind, they caressed each other’s mouth with uncharted fervour. Bites mixed in with a battle of tongues as they thrusted, tugged and stroked. At the end of it, they were both breathless, but the void of despair could not be filled with a thousand kisses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He will never let you ascend,” Ignis confined, hiding his face between Ardyn’s pectorals like a terrified child. “He covets the throne and he won’t allow you to seat it. You are walking into a trap.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The news wasn’t a surprise to him. He had expected for Somnus to find a way to lure him back to the Palace, and having him think he was to ascend the throne was the perfect ploy. Yet Ardyn knew, if there was even a small chance of the Crystal’s decision holding a kernel of truth, he had to hold on to it and play into Somnus’s hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carefully, fearful of breaking the general in his arms, he peeled the younger man off himself to look him in the eyes once more. His forehead pressed against his as he etched into his memory how Ignis’s arms felt around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pray be with me always, Ignis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The throne room was eerily quiet for how many people it seated, when Ardyn graced it with his presence. A few feet behind him, Ignis followed in tow, a dark shadow hanging over his handsome features. He had cause to be on edge, as did Ardyn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the throne, his fiancee waited for him, as quiet as the crowd around them, and before the throne knelt his brother, the man he had avoided confronting all these years. And so the trap, as anticlimactic as it was, was sprung.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To lure you in, dear Brother,” Somnus asserted, speaking not to Ardyn but his audience, waiting for their approval and astonishment, “I gave the admission that the Crystal had chosen you, and how quickly you sprang to action! I should have used this subterfuge a long time ago!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The younger prince’s sword materialised in his hand. Ardyn heard Aera objecting, and from the corner of his eye spotted Ignis prowling the shadows by the wall. He had drawn his weapon as quietly as a Coeurl extended its claws.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am the Gods’ chosen king.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And if I object?” Ardyn asked. A flicker of satisfaction flashed on Somnus’s face as he lunged forward, weapon extended. Ardyn tapped into the power to summon his own blade just as his brother’s first strike was blocked by the length of Ignis’s spear as the younger man moved to protect the healer. Disappointment knitted Somnus’s brows together. Disappointment, but not surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t take long for Somnus’s blademaster to figure out the uneven odds stacked up against his liege and rush to his aid. He engaged Ignis in a battle that pitted brute strength against agility and fast reflexes, drawing his attention away from Somnus, preventing him from shielding Ardyn and leaving the older man to fend for himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With regret Ardyn realised Ignis had augured his fate at the clearing upon defeating him: he was grossly outmatched by Somnus’s speed and brutality, barely meeting each frenzied strike with his blade. For a brief moment triumph flooded over him as he caught the polearm Somnus had flung at him, but it was short lived as the prince warped at the spear, putting all of his weight behind thrusting it through Ardyn’s chest. Piercing pain flared in Ardyn’s torso where the weapon had impaled him, and Somnus used the falter in his stance to strike again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn was certain it was going to connect, resigning to his fate of perishing before his brother. In his peripherals, a blur of a tall figure dashed between them, the killing blow meant for Ardyn sinking into the flesh on his back, piercing deep. It took Ardyn a moment to realise he was looking into the face of Ignis, as the younger man slumped on the ground face first, into a pool of his own blood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ignis!” he screeched and pulled the spear embedded between his ribs out, extending his arms towards the man that sputtered more blood onto the marbled floor and pushed past the pain to drag himself to Ardyn. Before he could reach his lover, Somnus stomped a foot into Ignis’s back, lifted up his sword once more and put Ignis to it. In that moment, for the first time in his life, Ardyn understood the expression of tunnel vision, as the edges of his sight darkened and his eyes focused on the poor ragdoll on the floor recoiling when the sword was pulled from it with a sickening squelch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Loyalty is a curious thing,” Somnus contemplated, unaffected by the atrocity of his actions. He kicked Ignis to the side to roll the body on its back. “You seem to command a great deal of it, Ardyn, when even my own generals turn against me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were no farewells between them, as Ardyn dropped on his knees and crawled to Ignis, gathering his dear body in his arms. Their goodbyes had been said at the bridge. The healer held him close, pressed his face into the soft nook between Ignis’s shoulder and his neck and pretended like he wasn’t gone. The warmth and the familiar scent were there, and if only Ardyn didn’t look into the vacant eyes, void of the intelligence and compassion he had grown to cherish most about Ignis, he could deny the lack of heartbeat. His fingers found their way up into the general’s hair of their own accord. He stroked through it, frantic and numb at the same time, feeling every soft strand. After so many nights spent together, his wish had been fulfilled. He could finally hold Ignis in his arms as he slept peacefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Forgive me, brother, but the Crystal’s wish must be adhered to,” Somnus said quietly, raising his sword above his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An encompassing darkness overcame Ardyn’s mind then, filling in the empty corners left behind by the ebbing of Ignis’s voice, and he allowed it full control. He would not allow Somnus to take Ignis from him. He could not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next moments became nothing but a murky recollection at best. Amidst the darkening mists of his consciousness, he had a faint memory of walking up to the Crystal hoisted above the throne while carrying Ignis with him. He couldn’t remember how the younger man had become so heavy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cared not about becoming the king anymore. All he wanted was for fates to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>righted</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but he couldn’t remember why. With a bright flash that burned his flesh, his wish was rejected. Immobile at the foot of the stairs, his vision swimming and the rising sun burning patches through his memories, he remembered that only Ignis had ever listened to his hopes and woes. Defeated and exhaustion washing over him, he could no longer reach for the kind hand and hold it in his.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Two thousand years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two thousand years of enduring nightmares, visions of his face, the sound of a sword splitting through bones and flesh ringing in his ears. Over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he considered himself lucky. Two thousand years trapped in a stone prison, chains with sharp hooks impaled through his torso to keep him contained, haunted by the ghosts of his past, and Verstael had awakened him from his phantasmal slumber just at the right time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Centuries of careful breeding, or perhaps an absurd accident, Ardyn cared not, had cultivated </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Ardyn happened to have been revived to witness it. He had seen sights of him, passing images in the memories of Lucians he had daemonified, brief encounters in the dark corners of his psyche upon visiting other people’s lives. Ardyn felt an ache ravage through his body even thinking about him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, he wasn’t the same man as he once was. He was younger than when Ardyn had first met him, perhaps by ten years, and was yet to grow into that lithe, tall frame of his, fill in all the nooks with lean muscle and walk tall, proud. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wouldn’t remember Ardyn, oh, no. Not like Ardyn remembered him. The boy wouldn’t know how it felt to be out of place without someone’s touch, the lack of belonging in the waking world. The daemons within him stirred with insurrection, the sea of rage in the abyss of his stomach calmed only by his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just in time with his quiet contemplation, he heard the gaiety of the group he had been expecting. Sitting in the shade of Galdin Quay had been much more pleasant than waiting for an encounter in the blazing sun that burned his skin and hurt his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn stood up from his comfortable seat. At the back of the group he spotted him and suddenly the dark pit of his heart flared with an emotion he thought long gone. His resolution almost wavered upon the sight of his broad shoulders, narrowing down to a tiny waist. His plush lips contoured around words and oh, how Ardyn wished to feel them upon his once more. Behind the frames of his spectacles, a pair of meadow-green eyes, inquisitive and benevolent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He might’ve not been his Ignis, but he was, indubitably, Ignis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ardyn had to have him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stepped in front of the group, halting them in their tracks in confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If somebody wants to write a sequel to this that's the alternative ending of Episode Ignis where Ardyn takes Ignis to Zegnautus Keep because he wants the Crystal so show him the life he had with Ignis's ancestor and it ends up not woring and Ignis is just angry and confused and screaming that he has no fucking clue what Ardyn is talking about and Ardyn is just... defeated, doesn't even bother to fight Ignis, just kinda lies on the floor in defeat when the rest of the guys barge in all "Ignis! Are you o... kay?" and they look at Ardyn lying on his back on the floor and ask what's wrong with him and Ardyn is just: "Alright let's get this over with. Noctis, do be a dear and step into the Crystal now." "Aren't you gonna fight us?" "No. Just... fulfill the profecy, become the king of yada yada yada I'll be waiting for you in Insomnia as soon as I have the strength to get up." And they just leave him to it. If anyone wants to write that, you know, I'm open for it lol.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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